This invention provides an apparatus, system and method for ship surveillance, detection and recording a person 2 overboard event as illustrated in FIG. 1, or a potential threat to the ship from an intruder having intentions to board the ship. Surveillance and early detection systems that signal when a person falls overboard from a commercial, military or cruise ship have become increasingly more desirable as the true number of people falling overboard becomes apparent. In addition the early detection systems to signal when an intruder is within the zone of threatening to board a vessel without permission, such as terrorists or pirates, have become increasingly necessary as more and more ships are being pirated.
When dealing with person overboard scenarios there are few moments to spare in stopping the vessel, turning the propulsion machinery away from the person overboard before a true catastrophe at sea occurs, and initiating a rescue. Depending on environment and extraneous circumstances, a crew may only have moments to even detect the person overboard and initiate rescue before it is too late. To work effectively each major component in the system must work in tandem with one another to provide the fast response times such that crew members can appropriately respond to the emergency occurring within a prescribed perimeter that surrounds the vessel.
Until now solving the person overboard problem had not yielded satisfactory solutions, in part because the sensors required to detect an event that occurred over a span of 180 degrees in close proximity to the sensor head and thereafter accompanied by the means to capture the event itself were unavailable. A significant reason why a satisfactory solution has not been found is that the detection of a relatively small object (e.g., size of a baby) falling from a ship, relative to a sensing and detection mechanism, has a very high angular rate of change. On the other hand the recording of such object must precede its detection and encompass the entire trajectory of the object from the point of departure from the ship until it contacts the water. The present invention solves each of these problems in an integrated system that has a commercial application due to its sensitivity, accuracy of positioning and low cost.